In just a week it will be Martin Luther King Day – Monday, January 16th. There is valuable information on this site not only about MLK, but how others can volunteer or serve those in need.
http://mlkday.gov/plan/library/communications/posters.php
Take your children on an educational tour about a man who made a difference and encourage them to change the world by making a difference too.
For awhile my kids were really into space and astronauts. This was when they were much younger, but even today my husband and children love to watch the stars and one night this winter they even stayed out in the freezing air waiting for a comet that never appeared. Think we got the wrong time or missed it completely. 
Since they were so interested space I decided to put together a unit study for them. Even today my kids have fond memories of doing that unit study! (It was my older daughter’s idea to do this post!) We went to the library and checked out tons of books on space and then we all sat around and read them throughout the course of a few weeks. We watched a couple movies on space, did complimenting projects and assignments. The children really enjoyed that unit study.
Of course, we couldn’t do a unit study without the food! And since astronauts eat foods for survival, I purchased a couple freeze dried meals for my kids to try. They liked them a lot and thought that it was the funniest thing that you could put ice cream in a bag and eat it without a spoon! 
I still have the pink folder with my children’s book reports in it that they did on several of our favorite books on space. In the past couple years the folder has started to fall apart, but we still have the packaging to the astronaut food and the memories are still in my four older children’s minds and hearts of the time that we did a study on space.
Considering the fact that it’s been almost six or seven years since we did that unit study I should really do it again for the sake of my four younger kids. And I’ll have to BuyEmergencyFoods to show my younger kids what astronauts eat so they can experience the fun too!
HSLDA needs your input to help them better serve you and the homeschooling community! Follow the link below to their short, six-question survey and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a $500 Visa gift card.
http://www.hslda.org/Survey/mvt/Default.aspx?rid=27494
Survey and drawing entries must be submitted by October 9. Winner will be drawn on Tuesday, October 11, 2011, and will be contacted by email. If we do not receive a response within 72 hours, a new winning name will be drawn. Must be age 18 or older to participate. By entering this contest, you agree to have your email address added to HSLDA’s email list. You may unsubscribe at any time.
We have reviewed and purchased items for our homeschool from LightHome Publications. Now thru Wednesday, September 28th, for just $5 you may purchase any of LightHome Publications products or for just $10 for a magazine subscription (quarterly). This sale ends Wednesday, September 28th at midnight so take advantage of it before it’s too late. It is a great way to support a homeschooling family in need too! These products make wonderful gift ideas too. Buy now!
Connect with LightHome Publications on Facebook.
“What if there was a snack that could satisfy even the most demanding sweet tooth that had zero grams of guilt? Introducing Halo, the delicious between meals treat that’s designed to do your body good. With natural whole food ingredients and heavenly taste, these bars have such big flavors they take on a personality all their own. So, what’s your Halo?”
Pro Bar offeres 4 different flavors of Halo Bars, S’Mores, Nutty Marshmallow, Rocky Road, and Honey Graham.
According to Pro Bar this is what Halo offers.
*Good source of Omega 3 &
* Certified Organic by QAI
* Vegan & Dairy Free
* Only 150 Calories per Bar
* Low in Sugar
* All Natural
Charming, sensible and refined are the words most used when describing a Rocky Road. Like an old soul they remain grounded through life and usually find themselves sharing their wisdom with the other flavors. Rich with depth they tend to gravitate to the finer things in life. Intelligent and adaptable to every situation and person. Rocky Road’s never lack for friends or admires.”
“Outdoor enthusiasts at their core, S’mores are most content when they are actively exploring nature with friends and family. S’mores can really take the heat and work extremely well under pressure. Despite their hard exterior, they are almost always soft and gooey on the inside making them great life long companions to most any flavor.”
HONEY GRAHAM
“With the perfect combination of innocents and wholesome sweetness, Honey Graham’s are known for their friendly dispositions and random acts of kindness. If you need advice or a listening ear, Honey Graham’s are the ones to ask. They are masters of communication and tend to be not only responsible but also extremely resourceful by nature. They like to leave their mark on everyone they meet and this is easy for Honey Graham’s to accomplish due to their sticky personalities.”
“Exocentric and lively, Nutty Marshmallow’s have the tendency to be impulsive risk takers often making them the life of the party. This wild child rebel has a clever wit is not afraid to speak their mind. With boundless energy, Nutty Marshmallow’s usually have a never-ending hunger for adventure and new experiences. More so than another flavor, Nutty Marshmallow’s are young at heart and have an unyielding passion for life.”
They are available online at http://theprobar.com/ . Once on their site you can also order by phone or find a store near you.
My Review:
Food does not last long in my house. That goes double for these Halo Bars! My whole family loves them. They are a great & healthly on the go snack. Our family favorite was S’Mores!
About Twin Sisters:
“Fraternal Twins Kim Thompson and Karen Hilderbrand have always been close, and have always worked well together. This company was born out of a love for children and seeing the wonderful look of pride on their faces when they have mastered a concept, and have had fun doing it!
Kim started her career as a classroom teacher. She loved teaching first grade and would incorporate music on a daily basis. My class would sing our spelling words, clap out rhythms, march around the room – all while learning. Many phonemic awareness activities involve music, and I found this to be a really fun and effective way to teach. When I earned my masters degree in “Integrating the Arts into the Elementary School Curriculum,”
I was convinced that music was a powerful teaching tool. I began teaching third grade and while becoming familiar with my new math curriculum, discovered that I would be teaching the multiplication facts. What a challenge! I knew that using music and rhythm would make it fun and easy – so that’s what I did. Karen and I worked together and wrote “Rap With The Facts.” We recorded our first album with the help of Hal Wright, and that’s how it all began!”
Since the beginning, we have been blessed with continual growth. Our MISSION is to be The Leader in Children’s Educational Music. We have worked very hard to create excellent products that children will enjoy, and to make learning effective and fun for the lives that we touch through our music. To get a glimpse of how hard we have been working to be the leader in children’s educational music, visit our awards section. www.twinsisters.com/awards”
Twin Sisters Productions offers many children’s learning activities. The kids don’t even realize they are learning because they are having fun!
I received “The Number Train Giant Floor Puzzle”
“Young learners will quickly begin to recognize numerals, number words, and number order 1 to 20 with this all-new giant Number Train Floor Puzzle! The 6-foot x 7-inch puzzle features 27 large, sturdy laminated pieces. The Music CD includes 12 songs that teach numbers and counting. Bonus! Print the 48-page Numbers & Counting Activity Book PDF from your own computer! Practice tracing and writing numbers, counting sets, and more!”
Even though my daughter is still a little young for this product (recommended ages are 4 to 10). She really enjoys the puzzle and songs. Each puzzle piece has a number of animals relating to the current number they are on. Granted she doesn’t know her numbers in order yet, she does understand matching and is also learning about animals. I printed the activity book and that is a bit advanced for her at this time, but it teaches them number counting and writing. The music is great! I love the fact the puzzle comes with a CD, to print the activity book at any time! Most products you use the activity book once and you need to dispose of it. Great product for upcoming birthday parties, holidays, or rainy or snowy day activities.
For this product and many others, visit the Twin Sisters website at http://www.twinsisters.com/
Twin Sisters can also be found on Facebook &
School’s Coming! Are you ready? Avery graciously sent me 3 products to review. Here is product #1.
Avery® Heavy-Duty View Binder with 1″ One Touch EZD™ Ring
One-touch operation, no-gap rings and everyday durability—that’s what you get with this Heavy-Duty View Binder. The One Touch EZD™ rings’ special design makes opening and closing the rings easy. And Gap Free™ rings close up firmly to keep your important paperwork securely inside. Even when filled to its 275-page capacity, this binder still has four stacked pockets for a bit of extra space inside the covers. Cover material is PVC-free polypropylene. Made with 100% recycled chipboard. With sturdy construction and innovative features, this binder has a lot to offer.”
Avery® Big Tab™ Two-Pocket Insertable Plastic Dividers, 8-Tab Set
“Avery® Desk Style HI-LITER® , Yellow, Pack of 2Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.
You Can Count on Monsters by: Richard Evan Schwartz
Theresa already reviewed this book…but we thought it would be nice to do a second review, since I was also given a copy for our family.
OUR REVIEW:
This is a cute little book! The premise of the book is to teach about prime numbers and factoring…the book goes through the numbers 1-100. The author states that the only thing you need to know in order to enjoy this book is how to multiply whole numbers together, like 2 and 3. My daughter (7) is just getting into multiplication so this book is a bit conceptually advanced for her…but we did find that it could be used for simple counting lessons for my 2 and 5 year old. My children LOVE the pictures of the monsters…this is what got them interested in the book and numbers. I think that they would have been disinterested had there been simply numbers and facts. The monster theme made the book for my children.
As a mother I liked the book immensely! I was glad that the book had a use for my 2 and 5 year old as well as my 7 year old! I like that the book has a second use of numbers and silly pictures to entertain my younger children while being able to teach my older child about simple mathematical facts. This book gets 5 stars from our family!
Check out the authors website for more information as well as other published books.
http://www.richardevanschwartz.com/
This past year we have streamlined our homeschooling to mostly online programs (approx. 80%). It has helped tremendously since I have been working more. Recently we had the opportunity to try ABCmouse.com – Kids Ages 2-6 – Click here to get your First Month Free!, a subscription based site that allows for up to four children’s accounts on one parent account for about $7.95/month. I have to say that I am mostly impressed with ABCmouse.com. It is geared towards preschooler and kindergarten age children, but all my children under 10 have been very eager to help the younger children! It is not only educational, but fun too! A bonus since we want our children to love to learn.
The pull for the children is the fact that they can earn tickets for the school work they do and then use those tickets to buy things for their virtual bedroom or other rooms. They have so much fun decorating and shopping! This reward system does not cost anything extra, it is just a part of the ABCmouse.com – Over 3,000 Educational Activities – First Month Free – Click here!. Therefore, our younger children are learning about money too, even it it is with a materialistic slant.
The school work includes learning sounds, letters, colors, numbers and counting. There are different subjects (reading, math, the world around us, art & colors, music, library, puzzles, games) to choose from or the parent can assign lessons for each day. There are six levels on ABCmouse.com: Levels 1-6, which a couple of my children are starting over. Very good for my now 4 year old son in preparation for teaching him to read. (Updated 3-18-12)
The music and voices on ABCmouse.com are very uplifting and encouraging. There is no condescension in the instructors at all. There are a lot of the old nursery rhymes that I remember my grandmother singing to me on there that bring back fond memories.
Samples of songs, like the “A” song are available on iTunes.com if you would like to preview the music.
The So-Called Negatives
The only so-called negatives in our minds are the requirement of the children’s birth dates when you sign your child up, which my husband and I are very reluctant to provide and would rather not give at all. Then the children showed me a tiki in the fish tank, which they call a tiki god and I liken it to a totem pole. These are very minor things and do not affect the overall success of the learning my children have gained from ABCmouse.com. My four year old knows her abc’s much better than she did before she started the program and she knows how to count better too. She has consistently earned high marks on her work. (Update 3-18-12: I really believe this program fully prepared my daughter, now 5, how to read. I started her on our reading program in January 2012 and she is half way done. She is doing extremely well and I credit ABCMouse for the success we have achieved so far!)
My three year old still needs help with using the computer mouse, but I think he is just so easy going that it is second nature to him to let his older siblings do it for him while he tells them the answer. My four year old and seven year old both knew how to use a computer mouse at age 2!
Overall Grade
Our children simply love it and are eager to do “school” with ABCmouse.com and as I said, I am very impressed with the quality of the program as well as the content. We give this educational site a two thumbs up for an overall grade!
For more information about ABCmouse.com – Full Online Preschool-Kindergarten- First Month Free – Click here!
Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.
Thanks to Stiletto’s to Strollers for sharing this disturbing video. What would you do if this was your child and his/her bus driver?
